Portrait of Hinata
by Darth-Taisha
Summary: Itachi-centric/Modern/AU/Supernatural. Itachi finds a soul-mate, there's only one problem, she is already dead. Story based loosely on the classic b/w film "A Portrait of Jennie." On hiatus for the time being.
1. Chapter 1

_**Portrait of Hinata**_

_**~Chapter 1~**_

**Summary~** Itachi-centric POV /AU/modern times with a supernatural twist…

**Disclaimer~** The characters are not mine, (sigh) I wish they were… they belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

**Rating~** T for language, possible dark themes just to be safe…

**Dedication~** To Sil (Narya Vilya) for disagreeing with me in favor of hot chocolate over tea and for all of the funny/random emails you have sent me. Also to Am (Lady Crack) for recently sharing a chapter for a story that was so awesome it inspired me to write something new. Big hugs and thanks to both of you.

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Sunny laughter floated by the solitary figure seated on the bench on the edge of the ice skating rink in Central Park. For the last few weeks he found himself continually drawn to the place. Without even knowing why he did it, he kept coming back…

After all, this place was as good as any other to spend an afternoon; it was not as if he had somewhere else he had to be anymore.

Glancing up when he heard a muffled thud, he saw a group of elementary aged kids collapse in a jumbled heap on the ice and the sounds of their shrieks and laughter filled the air.

Unexpectedly, a memory of him ice skating with his younger brother flashed through his mind before he dismissed it. Those happy days were long gone, almost as if they had never happened.

Closing his onyx eyes to remove the playful sight before him, he lowered them back down to the artist's sketchpad in front of him.

And sighed.

As always, the blank tablet mocked him and asked him who was he kidding. He was no artist - art was for people who were inspired and saw things and felt things. Not for people like him who were just existing.

No he wasn't an artist; it was only a hobby to him. It was just something he liked to do and when he was younger he used to be good at it. But his father didn't see any value in pursuing a skill as useless as drawing so he was ordered to stop doing it. And being the dutiful son that he was, he complied with his father's wishes… at least he did until a few months ago.

"Hn, I finally found you, we were beginning to think you were dead," Itachi heard his younger brother, Sasuke, say to him from behind the bench.

Deliberately ignoring him, Itachi continued to stare at the sketchpad in front of him.

At his brother's slight provocation, Sasuke kept his temper back with an effort.

Releasing an exasperated breath, Sasuke sat down next to his brother on the bench and waited for him to say something. After not seeing Itachi for two whole months and then having had to go to the extreme of hiring a private investigator to find him, he felt he was at least owed an explanation.

But, as usual with Itachi, none was forthcoming. It riled Sasuke that his so-superior elder brother never felt the need to explain anything to him.

Finally, unable to stand the rigid silence any longer Sasuke blurted out in a voice taut with emotion, "Why damn it? Why did you have to leave?"

Itachi went still for a moment before he looked away.

_You still don't get it - do you brother? _he thought sadly. Sasuke never did understand what it meant to be born first in their family. He was too busy striving for their father's attention to notice anything else…

If his brother had been paying attention he would have seen that earning their father's love and approval came at a heavy price. And Itachi had finally reached a point where he could no longer pay it. He no longer wanted anything at all from his greedy bastard of a father.

Because in the end, he learned the bitter truth that his father loved power and money more than he did him. All along his father had just been using him as a means to an end…

He remembered back to when he was younger and used to feel close to his father and wanted nothing more than to prove himself to him. Back then there used to be good times in their family, especially when their father would sit with him and Sasuke on the porch in the evenings after dinner and share their family's long and illustrious history with them. He shared with pride how centuries ago the family used to be a mighty clan of ninjas in Japan, before Madara Uchiha brought what was left of the clan to America over a hundred years ago.

Those times shortly became only fleeting memories because not long after Itachi's thirteenth birthday, his father began taking him to work at their small distribution company. It didn't take Fugaku and others long to realize that Itachi wasn't just smart - he was a genius. And when it came to business he was a natural at it.

So incredibly prodigious was his talent, that by the time he was only fifteen he was already making almost all of the daily operating decisions for the company. While his father publically received all of the glory and over the next few years began expanding the family business until it became a mega-multi-national corporation with over a couple of billion dollars in assets.

By the time he was twenty, Itachi was running the company and had earned his MBA from the Harvard School of Business. In his father's eyes he could do no wrong, while his neglected younger brother grew increasingly jealous and began to hate him. And his mother never saw him anymore… except for the times she would bring him some lunch or would try to hook him up with one her friend's daughters.

During that period in Itachi's life, it seemed like he never slept…he didn't have time to. All he did was work, sleep a little, go to meetings and then work some more. He didn't have time for people or anything else as he literally poured his life into his father's company.

Two years later, Itachi's star continued to rise and he was invited to become an advisor to the Commerce Department in Washington D.C. and did so incredibly well; he started receiving phone calls from the President as well as a few leaders of foreign countries.

His relationship with his father began to become strained when Itachi could no longer ignore his father's lust for power. When Fugaku began courting political power in Washington and pressuring Itachi to run for public office, that was when he began to reach his breaking point and finally told him no.

Still, Fugaku relentlessly pleaded with his son and when that didn't work he threatened to force Sasuke run for office instead. However, that ploy backfired when Sasuke point blank refused his father, surprising his him and everyone else with his show of guts.

Itachi smirked and knew that was a wise decision for his insensitive little brother to make. For if he was sent up to that festering cesspool of greed and corruption that made up the congress in Washington DC, Sasuke would have probably ended up telling all of them to go fuck themselves.

Even Fugaku realized the truth that Sasuke was not cut out for public office and never seriously entertained the idea; he was just trying to manipulate Itachi into doing what he wanted.

Finally giving up the dream of either of his sons running for political office, Fugaku turned his ambitions to expansion projects where he took to crushing the competition and buying out other companies for pennies on the dollar when they couldn't compete with them any longer.

Not having enough of a percentage of corporate shares in the company to stop him on his own, Itachi had watched with helpless anger as his father ruthlessly bought out an established and very well respected textile business near them that had been around for over seventy years. Itachi knew the owner well and considered him to be a mentor, almost a grandfather figure to him.

The disappointed look the old man gave him on the day he lost his company to his father made something snap deep within him. Itachi's stomach twisted in knots when he had to watch his old mentor turn over the keys to his father and then listen to the old man tell his son and grandson that he was sorry he no longer had a company to pass down to them.

Itachi still became angry when he remembered how his father just shrugged and tossed the keys in a bag with all of the other keys of the companies he had crushed recently before he walked away.

Itachi left the very next day. He knew if he stayed at the company any longer he would lose even the small amount of humanity he still had left within him.

Itachi finally turned to his brother and stated flatly, "I am not coming back, so don't bother to ask."

Sasuke nodded tightly, he had been dealing with their father on his own for the past few months and could definitely understand why his brother wanted out. But even though he was learning his father was a complete bastard, he still felt some loyalty toward him.

"Father says he will give you more authority to make decisions if you come back," Sasuke tried, and his shoulders slumped as he knew even though his father had him to help him run the company, his father only wanted Itachi back.

Itachi's eyes were firm; yet understanding of the uncomfortable position his brother was in. "Tell him I said no."

Sasuke nodded his head before he stared uncomfortably at the ground and released a harsh breath; it galled him that he needed to ask for anything from his brother, but he was in over his head with their father at the moment and was left with no choice.

"Help me, Itachi…" he gritted out in frustration, "father is making a fucking mess of everything and you're just sitting back and letting him do it. Both of you are really starting to piss me off."

Itachi sighed and knew his brother was right but in his mind he had honestly reached a point in his life where he couldn't care less if the company just shriveled up and died completely.

_Maybe it would be for the best_, he thought and then he looked at his brother's angry face and reluctantly knew he had to do something…Sasuke and their mother didn't deserve to lose everything.

"Do you still hate me, Sasuke?" Itachi asked him as he looked at him with calm eyes.

Sasuke turned away from his brother and a slightly guilty look passed over his face before he muttered bluntly, "Yes."

_I know you do brother, it's alright,_ Itachi thought as the corner of his lip quirked into a sad smile. "Meet me here tomorrow around noon and bring with you the most recent reports and financial statements you have."

Sasuke nodded solemnly and was grateful for his brother's help but he did not thank him, nor did Itachi expect him to.

As he turned to leave, his brother's voice stopped him.

"How is mother?"

Sasuke smiled wryly for the first time since seeing his brother again, "She has been going around telling everyone she knows you are vacationing in South America."

Itachi's eyes lit with amusement as that sounded like something their mother would do.

"You should call her," Sasuke told him over his shoulder as he began to head towards his car parked on the side of the road.

Itachi decided he would call her soon, maybe even tonight as he watched his brother walk away from him. As he took out his briefcase (one of the few things he had kept from his old life) he placed his sketchbook inside and closed it quickly when he saw a few snowflakes land on it.

Glancing up at the sky he noticed for the first time that ominous dark clouds had rolled in blackening out the afternoon sun. Anticipating a snow storm was about to blow in most of the people had already left the park and only a few stray people still straggled around the area.

Lifting his wrist up he consulted his watch in a businesslike manner and noted it was after lunchtime. He decided to stop by a deli for a bite to eat on his way back to his apartment.

The snow was beginning to fall heavily now and he was just about to leave when a movement on the ice caught his eyes. At first glance he saw it was a young woman who appeared to be a few years younger than he was.

He took a closer look at her and in an odd dreamlike way he felt himself nearly arrested to the spot he was standing on as he couldn't seem to take his eyes off of her.

She was one of the loveliest things he had ever seen.

Through the flurry of falling snowflakes that fell all around him, his intense black eyes captured the enchanting scene in front of him and seared into his memory every detail of her long flowing black hair and pallid skin. Her skin was so white and pure it was only a shade darker than the snow around them. His hungry gaze lingered on her delicately molded face and he found himself enchanted by the way it lighted with a child-like innocence as she lifted it to the sky and tried to catch snowflakes in her mouth.

He became amused by the cautious way she glided over the ice; he noted her eyes were constantly looking down as though she was afraid of falling. Itachi's mouth quirked when he saw a rueful grin flash across her face after she abruptly straightened herself after almost slipping on the ice.

Out of nowhere, she chuckled to herself and Itachi felt his breath catch as the laughing smile that lit her face filled it with such warmth and charm, he felt something more than the usual desire for a beautiful woman stir within him. Perhaps it was a need to smile with her.

He did not, instead his legs finally became unfrozen and he found himself slowly moving toward the ice as he felt compelled to speak to her.

Just as his foot stepped onto the edge of the ice and an eerie ringing sound from the dilapidated clock tower near the entrance of the park made him stop. He turned to the side and stared at it with perplexed eyes.

The bells in the clock tower rang one more time before it was silent again.

A small frown formed on his face when he realized he had been living near the park for nearly two months and this was the first time he ever heard it ring; he thought it was a little strange that it happened now. He wondered if it was just because it was so old and broken down that it probably just went off on its own at random times.

Turning back toward the ice skating rink his eyes widened and his stomach clenched when he looked all around the rink and couldn't find her. His eyes darted from the ice to the sidelines and then to the concession stand through the blanketing white snow and saw no one was around.

She was gone.

For several minutes he continued to search the area before he picked up the briefcase he had dropped and headed home…

**Author's Note:** I have had this story in my head for a while and couldn't resist the call of this particular muse any longer. This story is based very loosely on an old black and white classic film called, "A Portrait of Jennie." I also felt some inspiration from the song; Your Love is a Song, by Switchfoot. The lyrics are simply beautiful.

**Manga Spoiler Alert (Ch 513)**: Hmm, first off Naruto's ability to remain oblivious no matter what the hell is going on around him is still incredibly annoying to me, not at all funny and cute as Kishimoto probably intended it to be. He needs to stop it because if he wants to be Hokage he cannot be dumb as a post. Anyway, I am glad to see Deidara still has his personality and wasn't zombieish, *wiping a few tears away* I am so glad to see him back. Again, Naruto's character is still annoying but Killer Bee and the way he says Motha Fucka kinda makes me laugh. I am looking forward to next week's chapter to see how this all plays out with the Tsuchikage and Kabuto/Deidara.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Portrait of Hinata**_

_**~Chapter 2~**_

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[One week later …]

"Hello mother."

Mikoto heard his solemn voice say from behind her as she was seated at a table in a small café and a variety of emotions rolled over her all at once. The maternal part of her wanted to hug him to her and hold him next to her heart forever. While the aggravated part of her wished he was still young enough for her to turn him over her knee and spank the living hell out of him for not even bothering to call her.

It had been over two months (TWO WHOLE MONTHS!) since she saw him last and during that time she had been worried sick about him. A few days ago when she heard her cell phone ring and saw his name on the screen, her hands began to shake and hot tears sprung into her eyes when she heard his beloved voice over the speaker.

A wry smile tugged at her mouth as she realized he was a grown man, almost twenty-three years old. And he had been running their family business practically single-handedly since he was a teenager; even so she still worried about him…a lot.

She was his mother after all and if she didn't do it, no one else would.

_Why would they?_

Itachi was successful, responsible, and amazingly self-sufficient. To the rest of the world he looked like he was the epitome of someone who had everything all figured out. And on top of all of that, he was undeniably good looking, a genius and he had made their family rich beyond their wildest dreams, but sadly she knew the sacrifices he had made to bring it all about.

He had given up what was left of his childhood and for the past ten years he has pretty much had no real life of his own.

Running the company and negotiating deals had become his life. And day after day as she watched him drive himself to the point of exhaustion, it made her feel sick and helpless to do anything about it.

There were just so many wonderful things he had missed out on and when she tried to talk to him about it, he would usually look at his watch and tell her he didn't have time and then run off to another meeting.

When Itachi quit the company two months ago, she wanted to shout for joy while her husband called him an ungrateful son before shutting himself in his office. He refused to admit that he had pushed his eldest son too far and was determined to try to run the company by himself.

Mikoto knew her stubborn husband wasn't near the manager Itachi was and after only two months with him at the helm the company was already beginning to lose money at an alarming rate. But she didn't care; they didn't need the money and could always sell the company off if they needed to and still be set for life. Her son had carried the burden of running the company long enough, now she wanted him to learn how to enjoy life, relax and have fun.

He deserved it.

Standing up, Mikoto turned around slowly and without even really looking at him launched her arms around him and hugged him tightly to her.

"I've been so worried about you, son," she told him before stepping back a little away from him and her sharp eyes roamed over his face and saw that while his normal placid expression was in place, his eyes had a restless, edgy look that she had never seen in them before.

_Itachi?_

Her stomach turned over as a feeling of unease came over her – she just knew something was wrong.

Because her son was the by far the calmest and steadiest person she had ever met. He never got rattled and if he was bothered by something he usually kept it hidden. She always thought it was that ability above a lot of others that made him such a successful businessman.

"I am fine, mother." Itachi told her as he sat down at the table across from her.

Mikoto's eyes were curious when she saw him lay his briefcase on the seat next to him.

"What do you need that for?" she asked him with a raised eyebrow as she pointed to the case and joked. "Did you get a new job or something?"

Itachi paused for a moment as though weighing whether he should tell her or not, "I have started sketching again."

"Really?" She exclaimed happily, "that's wonderful, it had made me sad when you gave it up – I always thought you had a lot of talent."

Itachi picked up his menu and began skimming over it letting her know the subject was now closed.

Unfazed by his reticence, Mikoto picked up her menu from off of the table and began reading through it. A few minutes later they gave their orders to the waitress and after she left mother and son just sat there in silence.

Itachi went first. "How are you doing, mother?"

He determined it would be the best course of action to keep her focused on herself rather than on him.

Amused by his tactic, Mikoto knew what he was doing and decided to go along with him for a little bit before she would try to outmaneuver him and make him tell her what is going on.

"Oh, I am fine, darling," she told him with an airy smile as leaned towards him and placed her hand over his. She began to fill him in on all that has been going on since he left.

Pretty soon their waitress brought their lunch and they continued to share small talk as they ate. Through subtle probing, Mikoto found out a few small things like he was living in a studio apartment near Central Park and he had seen Sasuke a few times.

"You have been seeing your brother and he never said a word to me about it…and I just spoke to him yesterday, err, I am going to have a little talk to him when I see him again," Mikoto complained in an outraged voice.

"I asked him to keep our meetings to himself," Itachi admitted. "I have been advising him on some problems with the company and I do not want father to know about it."

Mikoto was mildly surprised because she knew the two of them were not close. She dearly wished they were, but Sasuke was just too jealous of his brother to see that he wasn't the jerk he thought he was.

"I am glad you are helping Sasuke, but honestly I don't care if the company falls apart."

Itachi felt a small amount of relief at her words and could tell by the look in her eyes she meant it. When he had left the company he wasn't sure how his mother would feel about it.

"I am glad to hear you say that, because I am not sure if I will ever be able to come back," he admitted to her and saw the door to the restaurant open and a girl with long black hair come through it and his eyes immediately scanned over her face, searching for.._._

His face fell when he saw it was not _her._

Mikoto's sharp eyes watched him carefully before she asked softly, "Is there someone in particular you are looking for?"

Itachi went still and a lost look crossed his face for a moment before he released a deep breath and refused to talk about it.

His thoughts immediately turned to the day after he saw her and how he had went back to the park and looked for her everyday but she never came back. When he tried to sleep, her face haunted his dreams; he couldn't stop thinking about her. He just wanted to see her again…and talk to her.

Turning away from his mother he looked outside the window and watched the people go by and wondered in a city as large as New York City if he would ever see her again.

"Darling, if you are lonely, my friend has a lovely daughter who I know would be thrilled to go out with you," his mother tried as she placed her hand gently over his.

"No thank you."

"Is this the reason why you look like you haven't slept in a week?" Mikoto pressed and could tell by the momentary look of frustration that touched his eyes that she had figured out the mystery.

Mikoto waited and hoped he would tell her what was going on but naturally didn't expect him to. So, she was stunned when he silently reached over and unlocked his briefcase and held out a sketchpad to her.

Glancing over at Itachi she saw his face was almost solemn as he stared at the sketchpad in her hands as she opened it. She instinctively knew whatever was in there was very important to him.

"Oh my!" she exclaimed in awe when she saw sketch of the girl on the page.

As she stared at it she was completely speechless at what her son had sketched. She had no idea he could draw like this…

The dark-haired girl was astonishingly lovely and the drawing of her was almost life-like. Yet, somehow Itachi had captured a luminous innocence about the girl that made her seem slightly unreal.

"Who is this?" She whispered as her eyes darted toward his.

Her eyebrows lifted when she saw he was staring at the drawing with an intensity on his face that she had never seen there before.

He took a deep breath and then exhaled, "I don't know anything about her…I looked away from her for just a moment and when I looked back at the ice skating rink…she was gone."

Mikoto stared at the picture again and couldn't help but say, "Maybe she is a ghost?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Itachi snapped. "She is real, I saw her."

Mikoto's eyes opened wide for a moment at his unprecedented reaction, she was used to Sasuke using that tone with her, but Itachi - never.

An uneasy feeling began to materialize in her stomach.

"I believe you, dear, of course she is not a ghost," she soothed as she touched the drawing lightly with her fingers. Her forehead dented slightly as she continued to stare at it. There was something sort of familiar about the girl, like she had seen her face somewhere before…

"Hmm, she looks kind of familiar…" Mikoto said softly as if she were thinking out loud.

"You know her?" Itachi asked urgently as his eyes flew toward his mother.

Mikoto shrugged and gave her son an apologetic look, "Well, not really. I just feel like I have seen her face somewhere before…" she answered hesitantly and felt bad when she saw the hopeful look in his eyes fade at her answer.

"I'm sorry Itachi, I just can't remember."

He went back to staring out the window. "It's alright."

Mikoto cast a worried glance at him, and then pasted an encouraging smile on her face as she leaned toward him.

"You'll see her again, dearest…I'm sure of it," she told him and prayed silently that she was right.

"Thank you mother," Itachi told her quietly before putting some money on the table to pay for the bill. Standing up from the table, he leaned over and kissed her cheek.

Mikoto placed her hand on his arm and looked at him with concerned eyes before giving him a small reminder, "Itachi, please stay in touch with me, I worry about you when I don't hear from you."

"I will, mother." Itachi promised her before he left.

Mikoto closed her eyes as she heard him open the door to leave. There was something odd about that girl and the way her son seemed almost obsessed about her was making her very nervous.

oooOOOooo

On the drive back home, she had just driven past the city limits when the name of a town on a sign jogged her memory and she turned off the freeway onto the exit. As she drove towards the small museum she hoped she was wrong about this…

Otherwise that would mean…_oh dear_…

After parking her car, Mikoto stepped into the old museum that she had been on the board of a restoration project for it. A feeling of trepidation hit her when she walked into the Hyuuga wing and opened the door to a small library donated by the Hyuuga family almost a hundred years ago after the death of their beloved daughter. She walked slowly until she came up to the portrait of a girl with long black hair and pale skin. A ragged breath escaped her when she saw it was her…the girl in her son's drawing.

Mikoto's eyes immediately dropped below the painting to the name on the plaque beneath it.

_Hinata Hyuuga,_

_Born December 27, 1890,_

_Died December 26, 1910._

Feeling like she was ready to hyperventilate she pulled out her phone and pressed the speed dial to reach Itachi.

Back in his apartment, Itachi picked up his cell phone and saw it was his mother. He set it face down and decided to call her later, he was too tired to talk to her right now. He went in his room and within a few minutes fell fast asleep….

Mikoto swore when she heard his phone going into voice mail asking her to leave a message.

"Pick up the phone, damn it," she said irritably before she hung up and tried to call him again…

Tapping her foot anxiously, she listened to it ring over and over before his voice came on again asking her to leave a message.

_Damn!_

"Itachi, call me back right away, it's urgent…" Mikoto spoke into the phone and decided it would be best if she told him in person…

**Author's Note:** Bit of a cliffie, sorry about that, I will try to update soon. Regarding the plot of this story it will not be exactly like the film, in fact I have a lot of supernatural/fantasy influences to pull the plot from. I have a lot of directions I could go with this and I haven't quite decided which way to go yet.

Thanks so much to all of you who left me feedback and for putting my story on alert. My goal is to finish this by the end of the year:)

To Let's Play Funeral, I love that movie, "Somewhere in Time," as well but I don't like the ending, I wanted them to be together at the end and it was sad when she faded away like that.


	3. Chapter 3

**Portrait of Hinata**

**~Chapter 3~**

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"The museum will be closing in ten minutes," the receptionist told him after he walked through the front entrance.

"I will just be a moment," Itachi told her and saw a small sign on the wall that would lead him to the Hyuuga Wing. Glancing down at his watch he saw it was ten minutes to seven.

After he had woken up from his long nap it was already dinner time and he saw his mother had left him several messages. The first three of them told him to call her in a somewhat harassed voice but the fourth one was different. Her voice was almost resigned and a little worried – it got his attention.

"Darling, please call me… it is about the girl in your drawing," His mother's voice message was unusually hesitant. "Well, I don't know how to tell you this, but she…well…she (Itachi heard silence for about five seconds)…Oh crap! Just go to the Union City Museum and look in the Hyuuga Wing….you will see for yourself. I'm so sorry dear…"

After he heard his mother hang up the phone he stared at his cell phone with an almost baffled look on his face. It wasn't like his mother to ever shy away from telling him things. In fact, it was always the opposite; she was usually blunt to a fault and always told him it was her motherly duty to be honest with him.

Hurrying out to his car, Itachi debated internally whether to call his mother and find out what was going on or call her after he went to the museum.

He decided it would probably be best to see for himself what had her so bothered before he called her. Knowing her she was probably overacting, or imagining things…

His eyes were mildly curious as he followed the gold metal signs and the musty smell of the museum and soon he could tell he was in an older section of the museum. Just before he entered through the door of the Hyuuga Wing, his eyes spotted a large painting of a young girl who looked like she couldn't have been older than twelve or thirteen. He stared at it closely and felt a smile ghost over his mouth when he noticed her mischievous eyes. He could almost tell by looking at her that she looked like the type of person who was capable of doing just about anything.

As his grandfather used to be fond of saying, she looked like she was hell on wheels.

The plaque underneath the painting said her name was: Hanabi Hyuuga, born March 27, 1896, and died, January 3, 1911.

His eyes glanced at her portrait again as sadness unfurled through him that one as young and vibrant as her had died so young. It was tragic.

As he took his eyes off the painting a sinking feeling began to form in his stomach as he realized the young girl bore a striking resemblance to the older girl he saw in the park a few days ago…with their dark hair and pale skin and light gray eyes they could almost be…

_No, it can't be? _

Swallowing the lump that was forming in his throat he walked intrepidly through the door and headed toward the painting of a young woman in the center of the room above the fireplace.

_It is her_, he thought as his eyes drifted over the painting hungrily. He would know that face anywhere and in the few short moments he saw her in the park, her visage had been permanently seared into his memory.

Her face felt so well known to him, he almost felt like he had met her somewhere before.

His eyes continued to stare at the painting drinking in the way her dark hair delicately framed her face and the luminous light that shone in her eyes.

Itachi felt himself almost unconsciously began to step toward the painting as he needed to get a closer look. A crushing feeling of despair began to grip him like a vice forcing a ragged breath out of him before he ruthlessly suppressed it and pointed to the plaque underneath the painting.

_Look_, he reminded himself starkly as he pointed at the plaque telling the date of her death. _She is dead! You don't know her and you never did._

His eyes glanced at the name that seemed hauntingly familiar to him. "Hinata," the name rolled lovingly off of his tongue as though he had said it hundreds of times before.

A frustrated sigh escaped him as he knew he had never met her before in his life. _How would that have even been possible?_ After all, it was 2010 and she had been dead for almost a century.

"She was lovely wasn't she?"

Itachi spun around and saw the young blonde receptionist was behind him and was staring at the painting with a patent look of admiration on her face.

Itachi turned back to the painting and whispered, "Yes, she was."

"Hinata was heiress to the vast Hyuuga fortune, but sadly, she died one day before she was due to inherit it."

Itachi frowned, "What did she die of?"

The blonde shrugged, "Who knows? Back then, it could have been from almost anything."

"I am sure you have an idea, I would be interested in hearing it?" Itachi pressed.

The blonde blushed, as she noticed for the first time just how incredibly good looking he was, wealthy too by the looks of the watch he was wearing.

"Well, I had read from old letters from around that time that she had been relatively healthy for most of her life until the summer before her death she began to have reoccurring illnesses that would weaken her and keep her bedridden for days, sometimes even weeks."

Itachi's eyes turned intense, "do you think she could have been murdered for her fortune?"

"No, I don't," the blonde told him in a quietly emphatic voice as she shook her head. "From all that I know she had a loving family and supposedly her father was so tore up at losing her, he had this wing built in her honor. Unfortunately, a day after he broke ground for this wing, his younger daughter died from a sledding accident."

"Didn't anyone ever investigate to see if foul play was involved?" Itachi asked her still skeptical that the two heiresses died so closely together.

A slightly wry laugh escaped her, "We-ll, Hanabi's death really was no surprise to the people who knew her. Apparently, she was known to be a bit of a wild child and was always doing dangerous stunts."

_How convenient for whoever who killed her_, Itachi's mind spit out skeptically as he stared at the painting with a glower on his face.

The receptionist laughed grimly, "You wouldn't be the first person to think she died of unnatural causes, but from everything I have heard they were a pretty respectable, even normal family. Unfortunately, fate has not been kind to the Hyuuga family, as every last one of them has been completely wiped out. After Hanabi died, Hiashi made his younger twin brother, Hizashi, heir and both of them ended up dying a few years later in a hunting accident. Then, the only one left was Hizashi's son, Neji, who was said to have been very close to all of them and a model son. Hinata and Hanabi used to affectionately call him, brother. I read that he ended up investing the Hyuuga fortune wisely and became insanely wealthy in the 1920's; unfortunately he lost most of his wealth when the stock market crashed in 1929. He and his wife, Tenten, never had any children together and she callously divorced him when she found he was broke and he ended up committing suicide a few weeks later."

Itachi felt sick as he stared at the painting. Swirling in his mind were accusations that may or may not be true. If her cousin, Neji, was behind all of their deaths, he obviously didn't profit in the end, but still, something within him wanted to find out the truth. He didn't know why, but he felt like he owed it to at least try.

"Do you have any information on her?" Itachi asked the young woman.

"Sure, I do," she replied with a large flirty grin, "but it will cost you dinner."

Heart sore and feeling a little sick at the story he had just heard the last thing he wanted to do was go out with this blonde. She wasn't his type anyway.

He sniffed the air and he frowned when he thought he could smell a trace scent of lavender in the air. His eyes turned toward the painting and he wasn't surprised when he saw a small twig of lavender folded in Hinata's hands.

He glanced around the room, but she was nowhere to be found.

_I am losing my mind_, he thought as his lips began to tighten into a straight line.

"I am sorry; I already have plans for this evening," he told her in a stiff voice before turning to go.

The blonde smiled a little chagrinned, "Hey, it was worth a shot… it isn't often I meet someone like you."

Itachi accepted her compliment with a small nod of his head; he still wasn't interested in her, "Thank you for your time…" he began as his eyes drifted toward her nametag.

"Ino," she supplied as she handed him a museum flyer. "Our website has quite a bit of information on the Hyuuga family if you are interested in learning more about them."

"Thanks," Itachi told her as he put the flyer in his pocket, his eyes lingered one more time over Hinata's portrait before he exited the room.

Ino watched him leave and her eyes shifted up toward the portrait with an amused glare, "Damn it Hinata," she swore with a laugh. "Can't you leave me just one, why do they always have to fall in love with you?" She complained to the painting as she began to lock up the room.

Behind her, Hinata materialized in a lilac mist, Ino turned around and was shocked at the bleak look in her ghostly friend's eyes. She had met her years ago when she had just started working there and had to shut down the museum at night. It didn't take her long to find out the place was haunted, but Hinata was a nice ghost and told her lots of interesting things about the past. Ino adored her and kept their friendship a secret.

"Hinata, what's wrong?"

Her eyes looked toward the door where he had just left, "Ino, it's him," she whispered and put her face in her hands.

"Him - as in Itachi!" Ino shouted with shocked blue eyes.

Hinata nodded sadly.

"Damn it Hinata, what are you doing standing there? Go after him!" Ino yelled as she scooted her friend out the door.

Hinata disappeared, cloaking herself with invisibility and watched as he climbed behind the seat of his car. Breathing out deeply, she floated through the roof of his car and settled into the passenger seat next to him.

As he drove out of the parking lot, her eyes drifted over him longingly, hardly daring to move after so many years of searching for him she still couldn't believe she found him.

Beside her Itachi picked up his cell phone when it started vibrating.

"Hello mother," she heard him say into the phone. (She knew what a phone was because she had been hanging around the museum for so long and had seen people using them.)

She watched as he held the phone away from his ear with a pained expression on his face as his mother rattled off several loud questions all at once.

"I'm fine, you don't need to come over," Itachi told her with a shudder; the very last thing he wanted to deal with was his mother. He just wanted to be alone and maybe pull up the museum website on his computer when he got home.

"Darling, are you sure? I could be over at your place within an hour; Sasuke told me where you live." Hinata heard his mother say over the phone and a giggle escaped her as she watched an expression of extreme annoyance pass over his face.

"I will be fine, besides I decided to go back to work tomorrow," he told her in a flat voice.

"Oh Itachi, please don't do that – take a few more days off before you make a decision about work. Please son, promise me you will at least take one more day off before you go back."

"It won't make any difference," he told her with a sigh. "But I will wait one more day before I go back, I will call Sasuke tomorrow."

"Good, I will come see you in the morning to check on you," Mikoto told her son, relieved that he saw the wisdom in her advice.

"No, that will not be necessary, mother," he told her quietly.

Mikoto could tell by his voice that he was really hurting, but understood it was his way to deal with it on his own. Even as a child he never liked to be coddled, "Alright, I will see you in a few days then."

"Goodnight mother."

"Goodnight son…and Itachi, I am so sorry about Hinata, (pause) I wish she was still alive."

Itachi hung up the phone and stared out in front of him and spoke out loud in a dead voice, "So do I mother."

Beside him Hinata wept and whispered in a voice she knew he couldn't hear but still needed to say it, "I'm sorry Itachi."

A puzzled look came over his face when he began to smell the scent of lavender…he began to wonder if he was losing his mind.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Okay, before anyone asks (Winter lol), Hinata never saw Itachi that day at the ice skating rink. I will share later in the story her connection to the place and of course, her connection to Itachi. I am going to try to unveil details layer by layer so you will have to be patient with me. I hope all of you like mysteries because I have always loved them and this story is unfolding into one. The challenge is irresistible and I also love the anime Detective Conan (Cased Closed). Anyway, please share your thoughts with me; I would love to hear from you…

**Manga Spoiler Alert:** (Chapter 514) I shared my thoughts on my previous post today (BI II, Chapter 1) and obviously I wasn't too impressed with the way the storyline in the manga is going. Naruto was once again clueless as hell and Yamato ended up getting owned by Kabutomaru (Sil's word lol) and now has to deal with Madara. Madara (prepare to be shocked *sarcasm*) now has both the Sharingan and the Rinnegan (I'd say he definitely is heading into the insanely super-powered bad guy group – how in the world is anyone ever going to get strong enough to defeat his ass?) Naruto, maybe after he figures out the island he is on is actually a floating turtle, but I am not holding out too much hope that he will be able to figure out that one any time soon. Who knows, maybe Sasuke will straighten up and realize that Madara is the one really responsible for all that has happened to his clan and find a way to defeat him…(Yawn) I will wait patiently for next week's chapter come out. As always, feel free to PM me with your thoughts on the manga.


	4. Chapter 4

**Portrait of Hinata**

**Chapter 4~**

**

* * *

**

_Ghosts of York (lyrics) _

_By As Tall as Lions_

I know  
We're all souls just trying to connect with  
Someone, but we're all  
Left searching on our own

Tell me that you could hear it  
Three taps under the floorboard.  
Don't say I'm losing it,  
Maybe you're deaf.  
Could have sworn  
That I locked  
All these windows fairly tight.  
Shut the door  
Hear a knock.  
She starts turning off the lights

And from the corner of my eye  
I saw your dressed all in white  
I saw you pass right by  
But maybe I had too much wine  
I hope you come back tonight  
You never said goodbye

Tell me that you could see it  
A ghost who's skin is porcelain  
Don't say I'm losing it  
Maybe you're blind  
Saw her walk  
Through a wall,  
Turn her head and look at me  
In a York hotel hall  
I am falling to my knees

And from the corner of my eye  
I saw your dressed all in white  
I saw you pass right by  
But maybe I had too much wine  
I hope you come back tonight  
You never said goodbye

Softly, as your dress flows,  
You say that you're alone.  
But I know I can't leave you  
Lonely and on  
Your own

* * *

_**AN:**__ In this story I have given Hinata the ability to fade in and out as she chooses…just so you know:) __Thanks to Narya Vilya for sharing this song with me; we both think it is really appropriate for this story._

_

* * *

_

A few weeks later Itachi ended up back at work. Life had to have a point for him and sitting around searching the internet for someone who had been dead for over a century was not only pointless, but was beginning to make him think he was going a little insane. He wasn't sure, but changes needed to be made, so he dealt with things in his usual rigid fashion.

By pretending that everything was fine and denying there was a problem.

After all there was always work and money to be made. So what if the scent of lavender permeated his apartment and when he went to bed at night it felt like someone was watching him while he slept.

He decided to move on, so that was what he was going to do…because he was still very much alive and had his whole life before him. While the woman he had seen was very much dead, even though when he saw her she looked so real to him…so real that the vision of her skating on the ice haunted most of his waking moments and some of his dreams too.

His phone rang and when he saw it was his father a small smirk slid over his face as he knew his father was not handling his forced retirement with much patience or grace. Standing up a little stiffly from sitting so long behind his desk, he walked over to the window and looked out at the New York skyline and the misty gray water beyond it. The phone rang several times before a heavy unnatural silence settled over the dimly lit room.

Itachi stood there for several minutes in silent fascination as he watched a stray ship enter the harbor in the distance. The ship was a strange, almost lonely sight in the normally busy port against the fog and darkened sky.

A quiet sigh escaped him as it reminded him uncomfortably of himself. Even when surrounded by a crowd of people there were times when he felt utterly isolated.

God, he was tired and the unwelcome thought entered his mind…_is this all there is to life? _He was beginning to think it was and the thought didn't sit well with him at all.

He had enjoyed his time away from work, but it had given him a chance to think and contemplate his future – something he had never spent much time doing before because he was always so busy with making money, masterminding deals and going to school. Now he realized just how unsatisfied he was with his current life.

_Maybe I should leave the country or go sail around the world…_

_Get real_; his logical mind reminded him that going away now that he had assumed control of things again was just a pipe dream and was not something that was possible at this time. He was training Sasuke and had made him his Vice President and it would be quite some time before he was ready to assume control of everything. Until then, it fell to him to carry the bulk of the massive corporate workload.

Unconsciously, he ran his fingers through his hair before he stretched his arms over his head. He decided to call it a day, but the thought of going home to an empty apartment held little appeal to him. His eyes drifted toward the phone as he considered his brother's invitation to dine out with him and a few friends tonight.

The door slammed open and his mother breezed in with all of the gentleness of a tropical storm. Her determined eyes took in his weary stance as he stood in front of the window.

She shook her head in exasperation when she saw the room was practically dark.

"Itachi, it is so dark in here," she complained as she automatically switched on the lights. Her determined smile faltered a little when she saw how tired he looked when he turned around and looked at her.

Though he would never admit it to anyone, he was surprised that he almost felt glad to see her. She would be a welcome distraction for the evening and he was sure he would be over whatever was bothering him by morning.

"Would you like to go to dinner?" Itachi asked his mother politely.

Mikoto was surprised and grew even more worried because he was stooping to asking her out to dinner for company.

"Thanks for the invitation, perhaps afterwards. I came here to ask if you wouldn't mind taking me to a doctor appointment. I don't want to go alone and your father is busy."

Mikoto immediately felt bad at her little fib when she saw the look of concern flash over his face.

"Is everything alright, Mother?" Itachi asked gently as he came around his desk and stood next to her.

"Oh yes dear, I am fine… it is just that I have a small problem that needs to be dealt with and this doctor has unique qualifications," she told him a little evasively.

Sasuke walked through the door and gave her an impatient glance, "Mother, are you ready to go? I have plans this evening."

Mikoto looked at her watch and a small gasp escaped her when she saw how late it was becoming.

"We need to leave now or we are going to be late, come on Itachi," she said and began pulling her oldest son's arm toward the door.

Itachi looked over from his mother to his brother and wondered why he needed to go along if Sasuke was already taking her to her appointment.

"Don't argue with her Itachi, just go along with her," Sasuke advised his brother with a knowing smirk.

Itachi rolled his eyes and realized it would be rather pointless to argue with her. He could tell by the pleading look on her face she obviously wanted both of them to come with her.

His eyes searched over her closely and an uneasy feeling began to form in his gut as he grew increasingly worried about her. Especially, when she began to cough suddenly and placed her hand wanly over her heart.

"Mother?"

Mikoto turned and gave him a weak smile, "I'm fine, darling, I have just been having a few mild chest pains lately."

Itachi nodded quietly and retrieved his coat from the hanger behind his office door.

As her eldest son turned out the lights in his office and shut and locked the door a small relieved smile slid over her face when she followed behind them down the long hallway...she knew just getting him there was half the battle.

oooOOOooo

Dr. Tsunade Senju, Hypnotherapist

_Hypnotherapy. _

_Oh no, this is not going to happen,_ Itachi balked when he saw the sign on the door and felt his brother come up behind him and his mother crook her arm around his.

"Mother," he accused through clenched teeth.

His eyes glared at her as she looked away from him with a guilty blush and opened the office door. Itachi's expression was sardonic as it didn't take a genius to figure out she had pulled a fast one on him; this appointment wasn't for her, it was for him. And judging by the way his brother was blocking him and avoiding making eye contact with him; Sasuke was here to make sure he didn't escape.

Itachi mentally cursed and shook off his mother's arm from around his and resigned himself to the inevitable intervention. Because if he left now, he would never hear the end of it, his mother would plague him for years.

Mikoto hurried and opened the door and greeted her friend exuberantly with a hug.

"Oh Tsunade darling, thanks for seeing us on such short notice."

Tsunade smiled at her old college buddy and looked over her insanely gorgeous sons. She never liked Fugaku when her friend had started going out with him all those years ago when they were all still in college, but she had to admit, the sons the two of them had created were exceptional young men.

And judging by their twin stony faces, they were pain in the asses just like their stubborn father.

"I am not going through with it," Itachi stated coolly with a mutinous look in his eyes as they darted over the titles of the books on the shelf behind her desk. Several of them dealt with past lives therapy and paranormal shit like that…_no way._

Behind him Sasuke was pissed and he shot his brother an apologetic look as he realized his mother had misled him as well.

"You told me you were taking him to a normal therapist; I didn't know you were taking him to one that dealt with freaky shit like this…previous lives therapy, tch."

Tsunade glared at him as she didn't like the slurs he was casting on her profession. "I will have you know - you little shit, Hypnotherapy is a valid psychological treatment that is commonly used all over the world."

Sasuke continued to look at her completely unimpressed and his mouth twisted with derision as he mocked her, "Hn, speak to any of my ancestors lately?"

Tsunade could feel her temper rising as she clenched her fist.

Mikoto stepped in between the two and gave Sasuke her most quelling look telling him to keep quiet or he would have to deal with her later.

Her eyes were infinitely pleading as she looked at her eldest son, "Now dear, I know this may seem strange to you, but I believe this will help you deal with some repressed emotions you may have."

"I am leaving," Itachi stated flatly as he turned toward the door but saw his brother was now blocking it.

Sasuke was beginning to see the humor in all of this and couldn't stop himself from teasing his older brother, "Why not give it a shot, brother, or are you afraid to?"

"Don't be ridiculous," his brother snapped back.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, "Tch, I bet you are, because knowing how uptight you are, you probably snapped at some point in one of your previous lives and wiped out the whole family."

Itachi didn't respond as he strangely felt something break inside of him at his brother's words. He turned away from his brother and began to stare out the window.

Standing next to Tsunade, Mikoto paled and swallowed an uneasy lump in her throat, "Sasuke, stop talking nonsense to your brother, of course he didn't kill everyone."

She turned and gave Tsunade an anxious side look as her youngest had strayed a little too close to the truth for comfort. Mikoto had done several sessions with Tsunade and found that their family did indeed have a very tragic past that went back hundreds of years. It was something she was trying to fix but so far hadn't been able to yet.

However, she didn't want to go back that far, perhaps only a hundred years would be needed to solve his problems.

Tsunade gave Itachi a searching look, "Your mother told me about Hinata."

Itachi gave his mother a sharp look that was tinged with hurt at her betrayal of his confidence. "I did not give you permission to discuss this issue with anyone."

"I know son, but it was for your own good. Tsunade can help you regress to a previous existence and unlock subconscious memories."

At all her psychobabble nonsense, both of her sons snorted with derision.

"Come on, Itachi, we can go have dinner with my friends," Sasuke told him as he began to leave.

Itachi moved to follow his brother out the door but his mother's words stopped him.

"Itachi please stay and give it a try," his mother pleaded.

"Forget it Mikoto, he is just like your asshole husband, let's go get something to drink," Tsunade chimed in a little indignantly.

Mikoto shook her head and laid her hand gently on her son's arm and stared into his eyes.

"Itachi, I know you are not like your father and I thank God for that," she began softly, "Now listen to me, I didn't tell you this before… but I noticed something profound when I stared at that portrait of Hinata at the museum."

He turned away from her sharp gaze and sighed.

"Do you know what it reminded me of?" His mother asked him quietly.

Itachi just stood there and said nothing as he tried to figure out where she was going with all of this questioning.

At his continued silence she pressed on. "Back at the house, I kept an old drawing you did of a young woman when you were quite young, probably only about ten years old…(she paused) I remember you telling me you had a never met her in person, but had dreamt about her and during the night you couldn't sleep so you drew a portrait of her."

Tsunade pulled the drawing out from behind her desk. It bore a striking resemblance to the portrait that was hanging in the museum.

Itachi looked at it and remembered drawing it and was surprised at how much it did resemble the one in the museum. He had somehow forgotten all about it.

"Itachi, I am not an art expert by any means, but something tells me you were the one who painted that portrait that hangs in the museum."

Sasuke rolled his eyes at his mother's melodrama, he was about to make a snarky comment when his brother's voice stopped him.

"It looks like something I could have done," he stated calmly and it had puzzled him when he saw the portrait hanging in the museum. Every artist has their own unique way of holding the brush, down to the angle of each stroke on the canvas. Even though he didn't remember ever painting that portrait, it strangely bore his signature in every detail.

Yet, in his mind whether he had painted it in a previous life or not didn't change anything. It was all in the past and he lived in the future.

"Whether I did or not, it is all irrelevant, nothing can be changed," he told her firmly, his eyes were daring her to refute his logic.

"Perhaps you may be right and nothing can be done, Itachi," Tsunade admitted her eyes were firm as they looked at him, she darted a knowing look over at Mikoto as if the two shared knowledge that the others were unaware of.

"Buried deep within your mind is subconscious memories, aren't you a little curious to see how you met Hinata?"

Itachi suddenly became interested and gave his consent to try…

* * *

**Author's Note: **Life has been very busy for me, but I always try to get something posted for all of you. I am having my wisdom teeth pulled next week so I probably won't be posting for a few weeks on any of my stories. I am almost done with a new chapter for BI part II and also the last chapter of my Bleach story. If I have time within the next few days I will try to post for this one again. It would be nice to hear from some of you, a lot of you have been awful quiet lately…

**Manga Spoiler Alert: (Naruto Ch 516)** Wow that was some chapter and I can already see Kabuto is going to have his hands full trying to control all of his zombies (for lack of a better word). Seeing him trying to control Haku, Itachi, Deidara, Sasori and others lol is going to be a lot of fun. Also, I thought Gaara's speech was pretty awesome. As a character he has shown so much growth and it was like he was born and raised up for such a time as this…Kudo's to Kishimoto for making a great character even more awesome.


	5. Chapter 5

**Portrait of Hinata**

**~Chapter 5~**

_Your love is a symphony  
All around me  
Running through me  
Your love is a melody  
Underneath me  
Running to me_

_(Your Love is a Song by Switchfoot)_

_

* * *

"How do you feel?" Dr. Tsunade asked her patient as he reclined back on the couch. "Is it working yet?"_

Itachi's eyes snapped open, "No, it is not."

_Damn_, Tsunade swore in her mind, she had been putting people under in trances for over twenty years and he was the hardest by far to get under. They had been trying for well over an hour with no results so far.

_What the hell is wrong with him? _She wondered as she looked over and saw Sasuke was twitching in a chair with his mouth open as he went under over twenty minutes ago. And Mikoto went under almost immediately since she had been through this a few times already so her body was prepared for it.

Tsunade looked over at the two and had no clue where they were going back to; hypnotic trances were different for each individual. She had an idea where Mikoto was going, probably back to the time of the "great tragedy," to try to divert it if possible.

Regarding Sasuke she shrugged, seeing he was one truly fucked-up individual with a giant chip on his shoulder, he could end up almost anywhere. Personally she didn't care where he went; he wasn't exactly her favorite person right now.

She bit back a grin knowing that she had performed a group hypnosis on them rather than an individual one so he had ended out going under without even being aware what was happening to him.

From the couch she heard Itachi release a long weary sigh as he began to get up, "I am leaving."

"Wait," Tsunade pleaded, knowing she had one more trick up her sleeve to get him under. She had never had to use it before, but he was a tough one.

"There is one more thing I can do to get you under," she told him and waited for him to lie back again and close his eyes. This little skill came from her family tradition back when they had all been ninjas. She had always wanted to try it to see what would happen.

The blonde doctor took a deep breath before performing several hand signs very rapidly and spoke the name of an old family jutsu.

Her eyes closed when she spoke the last word and she hoped it worked. If he couldn't go under with this then he was indeed hopeless and hypnotherapy treatment just would not be possible with him.

When she opened her eyes she saw he wasn't only in a trance, but for a moment her heart skipped a beat when she thought she might have killed him.

Rushing over to his side she saw he was still alive but he was completely out almost to the point of being unconscious.

"Damn," she said out loud, she had been hoping to be able to speak to him while he was under and find out about what it was like in 1910. Most of the time she could speak to her patients while they were within their trance and it was almost like her patients were speaking on two phones. In their mind they could speak to her and in their collective consciousness that seemed like time travel to them they could speak to others.

Tsunade found it all extremely fascinating and she felt a little let down that she didn't get to hear some of his thoughts. She looked at Itachi as he breathed rather shallowly and realized even if he were partially awake he probably wouldn't tell her anything…he was definitely a silent one.

"Your boys are definitely handfuls, Mikoto," she mused out loud to her friend in her trance.

Ten minutes later, Tsunade felt a little bored and she decided it was time to check on Sasuke and Mikoto.

She walked over and stood next to Sasuke and leaned down by him and spoke in a low voice, "Sasuke, how are you doing?"

"I am training with Nii-san right now and tomorrow I am starting the academy. Now go away…you are starting to annoy me." Sasuke told her in a monotone voice that made zombies sound animated.

A slow smile came over her face as she leaned toward him, "So, I am annoying you, huh?" She asked him.

"Yes, you are." Sasuke told her still under a trance.

"Sasuke, I need you to do something for me while you are back there, okay?" Tsunade asked him seriously.

"What?"

"Whenever you introduce yourself to anyone, I want you to say: I am Sasuke Uchiha and I am a total douche bag," Tsunade told him and bit back a smile.

"Okay, now leave me alone." Sasuke mumbled.

Tsunade had to test it out, "Hi, I am Dr. Tsunade, who are you?"

Automatically Sasuke replied, "I am Sasuke Uchiha and I am a total douche bag."

_Yes, you are Sasuke_, Tsunade thought and realized that sometimes she had the greatest job ever as she looked down at the young man in a trance.

"That will teach you to mess with me, you little punk…ha ha."

oooOOOooo

Itachi opened his eyes and was a little unnerved to find himself alone on a dirt road in the middle of a very sunny day. Earlier when he left his office and went to the appointment with his mother it had been snowing out and icy cold.

He closed his eyes against the bright sun and took a moment to get his bearings. Opening his eyes again slowly he saw he was wearing tweed slacks that were sort of itchy with a white starched shirt and lifting his hand to his hair he could feel that it was cut short and his bangs were parted in the middle.

In his hand he held a sketchbook, so it seemed his love of drawing went way back in his history.

As he walked down the road it was strange because he knew exactly where he was going and yet at the same time he also knew his modern self. It was an odd dichotomy to have two different mindsets in the same person, but he found he was growing more comfortable with it with every minute he was there.

One thing that stood out remarkably clear to him was it all felt so real, like he had travelled back in time. It didn't feel like a buried subconscious memory at all.

The air was pure and clean and he could tell by the landscape that he was in Union (It didn't become Union City until 1925). He knew in the modern world it was very industrialized and populated but for now it was a sparsely populated but obviously growing area. He could tell by the brick buildings going up in the distance.

His family had moved to Union from Japan and were just getting established. His father bought a small photo shop and the rest of them helped out in it and his mother started taking in laundry to help out financially.

Sasuke was away at university and Itachi had already graduated from a University in Japan and was currently painting portraits in a small studio next to his father's shop.

Before they left Japan they had been well to do and had a rich clan history but wars and other economic problems had stripped them of their wealth and they ended up moving the family to America. Including their Uncle Madara who still retained some of his wealth and had bought a big house in New York City.

Looking ahead of him, he knew he was headed toward a pond and had waited until afternoon time so he could draw the sunlight on the water and the ornate bridge that went over a small creek that flowed into the pond.

He stopped and listened closely when the sound of a scream came from a grove of apple trees near the pond. The hair stood up on the back of his neck before he immediately began running toward the sound.

oooOOOooo

When he reached the grove of trees there was no one there and he looked around the area a little desperately. He knew he had definitely heard a scream.

"We are up here," came a nervous young voice hanging perilously near the edge of a long tree limb.

It only took him a minute to realize the young girl with dark hair hanging from the branch was Hanabi. His eyes immediately glanced over closer to the tree trunk and he saw her dark hair and white dress. She was clinging desperately to the tree branch as it had started to break while she had been trying to reach her sister.

It was Hinata.

"The branch is…breaking," Hinata uttered in a terrified voice as she wrapped herself even tighter around the branch.

"Well, quit moving around, Hinata." Hanabi complained from the edge of the branch, she was a veteran at getting into jams so she wasn't as scared as her more cautious older sister was.

"Stay right there, both of you," Itachi ordered them as he began climbing up the tree. A quick glance above him showed him Hinata had very trim looking ankles and the branch was definitely groaning and splitting under their collective weight. He would not be able to step on it without putting them in even greater danger.

He saw there was a branch above them and rapidly climbed up to it. Once he was above them he got on his hands and knees and carefully went out near the edge.

Hooking his legs around the tree branch he hung upside down and reached one of his hands out to Hanabi.

"Take my hand," he told her calmly.

With both of her arms and legs wrapped tightly around the tree branch she looked at his outstretched hand and position on the tree limb skeptically.

"Are you sure you can hold on to me like that?"

Scared out of her wits as the tree limb snapped slightly beneath her, Hinata yelled urgently, "Hanabi, don't argue with him just take his hand!"

Hanabi eyes squinted closed as she stretched out one of her hands and felt his close tightly around it.

"Good girl, now let go of the tree branch," Itachi said as he reached out his other hand to her.

Nervously she let go and gave her other hand to him.

"Okay, hold on tight, I am going to swing you up here with me."

"You are going to do what!" Hanabi yelled but started to scream when she felt herself acrobatically flying through the air and then in the next instant she felt his arms around her as she was standing next to him on the tree branch.

Her eyes were huge as she stared up at her rescuer. "That was amazing!"

Below them an ominous cracking noise pierced the air.

Hinata gasped as the tree branch she was clinging to dipped slightly lower. Itachi quickly set Hanabi on the other side of him and guided her to the safety of the tree trunk.

He looked down below him and saw Hinata's face was deathly pale and her eyes were honed onto him like a lifeline.

"Don't worry," he told her calmly as he hooked his legs around the tree and hung upside down again just like he did earlier with Hanabi.

"Alright, take my hand," Itachi told her as his hand reached out to her.

Her eyes were locked onto his as she unhesitatingly released her death grip off of the tree and lifted her hand toward his.

Itachi grasped it and the touch of her hand against his felt like he was coming home. The two of them stared at each other in wonder and for a moment forgot the perilous situation they were in.

Itachi's voice was slightly rough as he asked her to take his other hand when he held it out to her.

Hinata did and then closed her eyes shut as she had seen what he did with Hanabi before and knew that was what he planned to do with her now.

Pure adrenaline pumped through her veins as she felt his strong arms swing her body around and launch her up in the air. It all happened so fast she wasn't even frightened and for some reason she had absolute trust in him.

Before she even knew it she was up safe on the tree branch next to him and his arms were around her. Somehow it felt perfectly natural for her to lean her face against his warm chest, even though he was a stranger.

How long she stayed in his arms she had no idea, it could have been a few seconds or a few minutes, time seemed to stop for her altogether as only he existed to her.

Itachi pulled back a little and his gaze met hers as an avalanche of feelings tumbled through both of them as they both felt like they knew the other.

"Are you coming down sometime soon or are you just going to stare at each other?" Hanabi's irritated voice said as it floated up to them breaking them out of the spell they were under.

Hinata blushed and looked away; she never acted this way with a man before in her life. In the neighborhood, she was known for her exceptional manners. An easy and charming smile slid over her face making Itachi's breath catch in his throat as it reminded him of the vision he had had of her ice skating.

"Thank you for saving us, I am Hinata Hyuuga and that is my younger sister Hanabi."

Pulling himself together, Itachi looked at her with a composed smile before he nodded his head slightly in respect before her.

"I am Itachi Uchiha and I am glad to have been of some assistance to you," he told her politely and reached out his hand to her and began leading her toward the tree trunk.

"Careful now," he said when she almost lost her footing.

"I'm alright now, Mr. Uchiha," she told him a little breathlessly as she made the mistake of looking down at the ground. Her hand had a death grip around his as he began helping her climb down.

As she descended down toward the ground she had no idea how high she had climbed up in the tree because when she saw her sister was in trouble she just immediately raced up the tree to go help her.

When her feet reached the ground again she felt like kissing it, but instead her eyes rounded on her sister in exasperation.

"Hanabi, thank Mr. Uchiha for risking his life to save ours."

The smile on Hanabi's face was completely unrepentant as she looked up at their exceptionally good looking savior.

"Please call me Itachi," he offered.

"Thanks Itachi, that trick you did with pulling us up made me feel like I was in the circus," she told him with an impish laugh as she picked up her ball began running ahead of them. "It was fun."

Hinata was slightly embarrassed at her younger sister's display of bad manners. Her eyes were apologetic as she looked at him.

"Don't worry about it Miss Hyuuga, I have a younger brother as well and he is the reason for my skill at helping people down from trees."

Hinata giggled at the long suffering look on his face, "Please call me Hinata."

Itachi nodded quietly and before he could stop it from happening, a smile formed on his face as he looked at her. He couldn't remember acting this idiotic around anyone else before in his life.

To cover up his lack of composure, he asked, "Why did your sister climb out to the edge of the tree limb in the first place?"

Hanabi had the grace to look slightly embarrassed as she held up her red ball, "it got stuck in the tree, so I had to go get it."

Itachi shot her a look telling her that was an idiotic thing to have done. Hanabi just shrugged nonchalantly completely uncaring that she had put her sister's life at risk as well as her own, "Oh well, I'm starving - I am going to head home. See you later, Hinata."

"Thanks again, Itachi," she said with an energetic wave as she began running down the road.

Hinata just shook her head at her sister's wildness and suddenly a blush came over her face when she realized she was now all alone with him.

Trying to hide her feelings of awkwardness she walked over toward a tree and picked up her sketch pad and the light jacket she had brought with her.

When she stood up again she noticed he had a sketch pad with him as well.

Itachi watched her as she stood under the tree with the sunlight coming through the branches and felt an unbearable sadness pass through him at the realization that in less than six months she would be dead.

He knew the date today as if it was something burned into his memory; it was June 29th, 1910.

His eyes drifted over her long hair, porcelain skin and soft white cotton dress with a bright blue bow around her waist and knew he had to find a way to save her and her sister.

"How long have you been drawing?" He heard her ask him softly as she came up to him.

"For most of my life," he answered automatically as his eyes still watched her closely.

"I bet you must be pretty good, I just started drawing last year when I travelled to Europe and fell in love with the architecture over there," she shared a little wistfully. She opened up her sketchbook and showed him some of her work and he saw she came here to draw the same thing he did.

"As you can see, I started drawing the bridge, I wanted to catch the sunlight as it flowed over the bridge at just the right angle, but my sister followed me here and well…you know what happened next," Hinata explained with a cute shrug of her shoulders.

Itachi sat down on the ground and opened up his sketchbook, "I came here to draw the same thing." His eyes began to shift over the bridge and he began to move his piece of charcoal over the pad.

Hinata sat down next to him as he hoped she would and began to watch him draw the peaceful scene in front of them. A smile spread over her face when she saw he had drawn her standing on the bridge staring off over the railing.

Her eyes began to glow and she bit her lip shyly when she saw how astonishingly lovely he had made her. She knew her looks were fairly average and most people only flattered her because she was an heiress to a huge fortune. However, she didn't think he was trying to flatter her when he drew her like that, something about the way he kept looking at her made her feel he really thought she was beautiful.

"Do you think I could have that drawing when you are finished, Itachi?"

"Of course," he told her as he put the finishing touches on it and signed his initials in the corner. He tore it out of his book carefully and handed it to her.

Hinata almost sighed in joy as she placed it inside of her sketchbook so it wouldn't get ruined. It was a lovely drawing and he was a very talented man. This was something she was going to cherish.

Her heart began to beat wildly as she could tell he was getting ready to leave to go home and she didn't want him to.

"Um Itachi…would you like to have dinner at my house?" Hinata asked with hopeful looking eyes before she added for good measure. "I am sure my father would like to thank you for rescuing me and my sister."

Itachi wanted nothing more than to go with her to her house, not only to spend more time with her but to meet her family.

"I would be honored to meet your family," he told her as he held out his hand and helped her up…

**Author's Note:** I had to start this chapter right away because I was so excited to show how they met. I am not sure when I will be able to update again, but I am definitely going to try to finish this story before the end of the year. Thanks to everyone who left me a review on the last chapter and for all of the story alerts. This quick update is for all of you:)

I hope this chapter answers some questions or perhaps it will create new ones. As you can seen I sent Mikoto and Sasuke out on their own journeys in the past to try to fix some problems in their family's tragic past. Regarding Itachi, he either went back in time or he is seeing long buried memories from a previous life…I am not going to tell you which one it is lol…thanks for reading!


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